There was an unexpected episode when Milos got a ‘bright’ idea and suddenly claimed Leo was using an artifact from the corrupt path. When he brought it up and saw Leo’s countenance change, he was certain his suspicion was well-founded and both Emile Landry and Kai Thomas agreed the youth had to be searched.
Unfortunately no matter how the two Mercenary guild experts looked, even after checking Leo’s amulet multiple times over and over they couldn’t find anything. In the end Leo was deemed to be ‘clean’ and could heave sigh of relief while pondering whether the iron knuckles were actually a regular primitive weapon or something so sophisticated the Nascent soul stage cultivators couldn’t recognize.
This incident turned out to be another breaking point for the whole event. After Leo was searched the row of challengers grew and even many from the Sacred Order itched to give it a go and see how tough one actually had to be to hold back an entire army by themselves. Of course, the youth used the prolonged break to eat and drink while elder Cooper was quickly washing his wounds and applying fresh bandages, thus when it was time to fight again, Leo felt pretty fresh.
After another bunch of duels he realized that many of his opponents were only at the Foundation establishment stage and clearly were taking part in the ‘event’ just for fun so that they had something to brag their friends about or, in future, tell their children. Because of that he had to seriously hold back, but quickly learned to use his time just like he did in the Dryad mountain city and utilized duels as practice, but depending on the opponent the training subject changed.
Without any Qi expenditure and purely relying on his body’s physical strength, agility and endurance, Leo learned how to go against different weapons, how other people applied Qi in their elemental techniques, practiced hand to hand combat and studied different movement techniques. Basically he was doing the same thing the rest of cultivators normally did on daily basis while staying in their respective sects.
Him being an oddity provided the opportunity for spectators to have fun, for many, including Leo, to practice and for the co-sect masters to reevaluate the ‘Heavens are always just’ concept. Indeed, they were the only loosing party, because no one, not even the disciples of the Sacred Order, were taking the war seriously anymore. When the sun hid behind the treetops, many Seven peaks disciples politely thanked Leo for being lenient, giving them pointers and wished swift recovery so they could practice again tomorrow. The so called ‘sect war’ had become nothing but an embarrassment.
Leo spent the following night recuperating in the tub in the Spirit tower while poor Milos and Goran had a lengthy discussion with their elders about the next day and whether they should proceed with the war at all. The Seven peaks still had a massive advantage in every aspect except for the morale and their biggest pain was how to raise it effectively. Them inviting the Mercenary guild as observers came back biting themselves in the ass and no matter how they looked, it seemed the duels had to continue for the duration of the third day, if Leo could persist, of course.
Before the sunrise they did manage to come up with a questionable solution though. All the experienced elders, with the combat expertise that is, got formally punished for the poor performance in organizing the attack and demoted to a rank of regular disciples. The next day they were to put an end to the silly circus, kill Leo in a bloody fashion and then defeat lady Etessa. They did discuss potentially killing or crippling her, but in the end decided against it because Evelyn’s wrath was unpredictable and if something went wrong, there might be no Sacred Order to take over.
Lady Evelyn missing was another variable that made everyone’s mind uneasy – on both sides. While Milos and Goran were weary of what reinforcements she could hire from this or other mortal realms, Etessa and division heads were concerned about their ability to stand against the Seven peaks army without her. Of course, Leo informed the Sacred Order’s side he brought back the poison pearl, but there was no explanation about her being absent for so long.
While the leaderships of the two camps were busy each with their own struggles, civilians of the holy city of Avila had problems of entirely different nature. After the duels ended, news of Leo eating dragon’s testicles for breakfast and having an immortal’s tenacity and potency spread through the city faster than wildfire.
Of course, most citizens could not believe such fairy tale, but the fact that a single youth was standing against an enemy army by himself was something witnessed by hundreds. In addition, the many disciples from both sides sneaked away during the night to have a drink in taverns thus their stories had much bigger weight. The last drop in the bucket was when from who knows were people began to place bets if Leo could hold for another day and as the result him being an inhuman monster became a matter of fact.
When this ‘monster’ arrived at the usual field the next morning, he could not believe his eyes. Both armies, even counted together were now a minor force compared to the tens of thousands of citizens who came to witness his prowess. They crowded both sides of the field, right next to the two armies and on one side, where Leo ‘received pointers’ from Torben yesterday morning stood a wooden structure, a couple stories tall.
There, like in spectator seats of arena sat hundreds of people and the moment Leo showed up, everyone jumped to their feet to cheer, almost destroying the structure in process. It did dangerously sway from side to side, but in the end stood strong and the spectators could finally observe the legend they had heard so much about.
Find this and other great novels on the author's preferred platform. Support original creators!
The ‘legend’ didn’t let them down. With the junior sect master and several elders in tow, he arrived in the middle of the grass field and from a thin air summoned a large wooden chair. Then he sat down, summoned a large egg on his lap and began to have a breakfast while lady Etessa walked over to the two co-sect masters for a discussion.
“See! It’s the left one!” Torben loudly shouted in ecstasy, “I didn’t lie to you, did I? Yesterday he had the right dragon’s testicle for breakfast and now is eating the left one!”
The distance was rather far for a non-cultivator to clearly see anything, but those with a better eyesight could discern Leo was eating something that resembled an oversized egg. As a result huge discussion began in the crowd how large had to be the dragon for it to have testicles of that size. It was so heated no one questioned why Torben assumed it was the right one yesterday and now the left one.
Last night he and Noel got rather wasted while telling their other neighbors the incredible story of Legendary Leo. Everyone wanted to see him fight again and in the end people rushed back here in the middle of the night and began to build a crude scaffolding that could be used as spectator seats. Most of the citizens were from the poor parts of the city, but it only meant they all were artisans of one craft or another, allowing them to actually be helpful. Thus, before the sunrise the job was done and the biggest issue became where to get booze around here.
No matter how carefree and self confident Leo looked, he really didn’t want to fight. His dantian currently had been shrunken to the size of a pea and if he exerted himself last night a little bit more, he would’ve suffered from a Qi deprivation.
While lady Etessa was discussing something with the rest of the leaders, Leo was heartily stuffing himself while stealthily observing the opponents he was supposed to fight. The elderly men sat cross-legged in a neat row some thirty yards away, dressed in the Seven peak’s disciple clothing and meditated in preparation for duels. They clearly were all at elder Payne’s level and there was no way Leo could go against people who had decades of combat experience.
His all inner self preservation mechanisms were screaming ‘deadly danger’ and the more he thought about it, the more clear it became he should not fight even one of them. This was not his war to begin with thus there was no need to die in it, especially after last night Etessa explained that the civilians would not get harmed no matter what. As the result grandpa Noel and master Torben didn’t have to get involved and their cover wouldn’t be blown, thus Leo didn’t have to worry about them.
During the two days he had returned, Leo hadn’t noticed Jack a single time. He was certain that if his buddy was around, the older friend surely would’ve let him know and the only reasonable explanation was that the guy had vanished because of the war. Since everyone Leo cared about was safe, now it was time to think about himself. Two days of combat practice was enough.
“I never thought they would stoop so low!” Lady Etessa had a guilty expression.
The two experts from the Mercenary guild said that the technicality the co-sect masters used was solid, because the Sacred Order was wasting their time because of a technicality as well. Apparently the two elderly were finally fed up with the circus and wanted to return to the Immortal realm.
“I know you have done a lot for us, so I can’t ask for more.” Etessa said with a sad smile, “These elders are dangerous and if you feel you’re not up to it, I’ll take over.”
All three division heads wanted to object while Leo was about to agree, when a loud shout ‘Make way!’ resonated across the two armies. Everyone immediately recognized lady Evelyn’s stern, but pleasant voice and when the Sacred Order’s forces parted, the missing sect master appeared, but not alone. To her right there was a beautiful woman, with the bearing of a fairy, the sect master of the Angelic Dawn – Laura cloud. To her left was a middle aged man of a small stature, dressed in a black robe, embroidered in gold.
The most shocking thing was that behind the three people there was another crowd, or rather, neat, organized and seemingly endless rows of soldiers in the Angelic dawn’s colors shoulder to shoulder with men dressed in black with a golden crown mark on their chests.
While most of the present furrowed their brows in confusion, the two co-sect masters realized the whole ‘war’ endeavor was over. While lady Evelyn’s return was anticipated and the fact that Laura Cloud was cured could also be acceptable, the arrival of the third person was the last thing they wanted to see. Now, on the grassy battlefield were gathered all five remaining Nascent soul stage cultivators of the Aurora mortal realm.
“Carlos! What’s the meaning of this?!” Goran angrily shouted, knowing very well it was futile.
“These nice ladies made the Golden gate an offer we couldn’t refuse.” The man called Carlos shrugged and cheekily smiled.
“In a day the Sacred Order wouldn't have anything left to offer!” Goran bitterly laughed back.
“True.” Carlos nodded, “But it was the proposal of the Angelic Dawn we accepted. Now there are three major players left in our tiny realm, but while my Golden gate is the smallest force, we have the vastest lands.”
“You mean …” Goran felt his scalp go numb.
“Indeed! The Angelic Dawn had a merger with the Sacred Order, but the Golden gate got the Angelic Dawn’s territories for lending a hand in this little dispute of yours. I hope you don’t mind!” Carlos explained with a polite smile.
“You …!” Goran wanted kick the hateful guy in the face, but Milos held him back.
Without a second thought he ordered the army to return and went over to the two elders from the Mercenary guild. After exchanging a couple of sentences, elders politely said goodbyes and left, leaving the co-guild masters behind.
“You’ll pay for this!” Goran hissed towards Carlos, but the Nascent soul stage businessman was not to be scared so easily.
“Sure, sure! I like paying and getting paid!” He said with a wide grin, “Oh, right. Before I forget. The Sacred Order and the Golden gate signed an alliance treaty for the next three hundred years … so … good luck you two ...”